Cabinet-maker s clasvip



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. F. HOUSTON.

CABINET MAKERS CLAMP. No. 511,845. Patented Jan 2, 1894.

WASHINGT NNNN c.

No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. P. F. HOUSTON. CABINET MAKERS CLAMP.

No. 511,845. Patented Jan. 2, 1894.

N0 Model.) v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. P. F. HOUSTON. GABINET MAKERS CLAMP-Patented Jan. 2, 1894.

Unrrnn Srnrns PATENT Orrrcn.

FREDERICK F. HOUSTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CABIN ET=MAKERS CLAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,845, dated January2,1894.

Application filed March 11, 1893. Serial No. 465,521. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, FREDERICK F. HOUSTON, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCabinet-Makers Clamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cabinet makers clamps of thatclass in which a number of radiating arms mounted on a suitable frameare provided with adjustable clamping blocks, and also with means fordrawing them all toward a common center whereby an object placed betweenthe blocks may be held securely by their pressure upon its margin.

The invention is fully described and explained in this specification andshown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan of aclamp embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section throughthe line 22, Fig. 1, the View being in the direction indicated by thearrow, or, in said figure. Fig. 3 is a top-plan of one of the adjustableclamping blocks. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the block through theline a&, Fig. 3, the view being in the direction indicated by the arrow,ac',in said figure. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of one ofthe arms of the device and the parts connected therewith, the plane ofsection being through the line 5-5, Fig. l, and the view being in thedirection indicated by the arrow, m in said figure. Fig. 6 is anenlarged top plan of the central portion of the clamp, certain partsbeing removed to show construction. Fig. 7 is a vertical section throughthe curved line 77, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a top plan of one of the outersegments attached to the frame of the device. Fig. 9 is a verticalsection through the curved line 99, Fig. 6, the view being in thedirection indicated by the arrow, m Fig. 6; and Fig. 10 is a transversevertical section of a modified form of the guide-bar, D.

In the views, A, A are the two transverse end-bars of the frame of myimproved clamp, and B, B are two longitudinal bars connecting the bars,A, A, and strengthened by suitable braces, b, b.

O, C are two parallel transverse bars secured between the longitudinal.bars, B, B, and D, D are two parallel transverse guides sliding on rods,d, cl, set in the bars, 0, O. The guides, D, D, are formed withlongitudinal dovetailed grooves in their upper faces and are connectedby a right and left hand screw, E, passing through them and extending inone direction to the end of the frame. The outer end of the rod, E, isprovided with a projecting pin, 6, adapted to receive the notched hub ofa wing-nut, E or to be connected with the wing-nut by an intermediaterod, E, provided at one end with a notched hub adapted to engage thepin, e, and at the other end with a pin, 6, adapted to engage thenotched hub of the wing-nut, E In ordinary use, the wing-nut, E may beplaced directly on the end of the rod, E, but when very large work is inthe clamps, the rod, E, may be lengthened by the second rod, E.

On the frame of the machine rest four diverging arms, F, F, eachprovided at its inner end with a pin, P, Fig. 5, extending downward fromthe arm and having at its lower end a dovetailed head, 1), engaging thedovetailed groove in the corresponding guide, D, two of the arms beingthus connectedwith one of the guides and two with the other.

It is evident that the rotation of the screw, E, must draw the guides,D, D, together or move them apart,thereby giving a correspondingmovement to the inner end of the arms, F, F.

The angular position of the arms, F, is fixed at will by means ofcorresponding pairs of slotted segments, G, G, the segment, G, of eachpair being quite near the center, and the segment, G, being near theouter margin of the frame. The arm is connected with the outer segmentby the means illustrated in Figs. 5, 7, and S, in which f is alongitudinally slotted plate set in the lower face of the arm, and lyingacross the segment, G. In the slot in the plate, f, slides freely adovetailed plate, orhead, f, which is connected by means of a screw, 3,with a slide, S, moving longitudinally in the segment. The arm may bemoved laterally so as to move the slide, S, in the segment, or it may bemoved longitudinally, the plate, f, being free to move upon thedovetailed head, f. The slide, S,

may be secured in any desired position by means of set screws, H,adaptedto draw the slide upward and press it firmly against the lower face ofthe slotted segment, and when the slide is thus secured, the arm canstill move longitudinally but cannot swing laterally at the point whereit crosses the segment, G. Each of the arms is connected with the innersegment, G, by the means illustrated in Figs. 5 and 9, in which,f is alongitudinally slotted plate set in the lower face of the arm, and f isa small plate lying in the slot in the plate, f and sliding freelytherein. The plate f is connected by a screw, 5, with a dovetailedslide, S, lying beneath the segment, G, and sliding freely along it. Theslide, S, may be fastened in any desired position on the segment bymeans of a set screw, II, set in one of its ends as shown in thedrawings, and it is evident that when the slide is thus secured, theinner end of the arm can have no lateral movement, although the entirearm may still slide longitudinally. By means of the segments, G, G, andthe parts co-operating therewith, the angular-position of the arms, F,F, may thus be fixed at the will of the operator, and the longitudinalmovement of the arms may be accomplished by means of the screw, E.

On each of the arms, F, is mounted a sliding clamping block adapted toimpinge upon one point of the object to be secured in the clamp, and theconstruction of one of these blocks is fully shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Inthese figures, I is a vertical cylindrical shell so slotted horizontallyas to slide freely upon the arm, F, the upper portion of the shell beingan unbroken ring resting upon the upper surface of the arm, and thelower end of the shell being formed with lugs, t', 2', engaging groovesin the opposite faces of the arm. The ring has on its inner margin anannular flange, t", and within it lies a circular plate, 1, formed withan annular flange, 1*, which lies beneath the flange, t", of the ring,the plate being thus held securely in the shell by means of the flange,'i, and the arm, F, upon which it rests. On the uppersurface of theplate are formed two vertical posts, K, K, each having two inwardlyturned faces at right angles to each other and so placed that each faceof one of the lugs is at right angles to the corresponding face of theother lug. In conjunction with the posts, K, K, I use an angle-block, M,having three re-entrant right angles, two of which are adapted to engagethe corresponding angles of the posts, K, K, while the third andintermediate angle is adapted to receive the corner of a frame or otherarticle adapted to be clamped. The two posts are placed almost wholly onone half the circle of the plate, I and the plate may be so turned uponthe arm on which it rests as to present either pair of faces of the twoposts and thus present more or less of the bearing surface of the plateand posts for the support of the frame or other article to be clamped,and by the use or the omission of the angle-block, M,

either a closed or an open corner may be presented to the article placedwithin-the clamp.

' Fig. 1 illustrates the various possible positions and uses of theplate, I, and posts, K, K, the clamps at the two upper corners of thefigure being shown in two different positions without the angle-block,and those at the two lower corners being shown in two positions with theangle-block in place.

The dotted lines in Fig. 1 show the position of a square article such asa picture frame in operative position in the clamp, and it will benoticed that the two upper clamping blocks show the use of the opencorner of the clamp, while the two lower clamping blocks illustrate theuse of the closed corner.

The clamping blocks are held in place by means of set screws, L, passingthrough the shell, I, and impinging upon short clamping levers, L, asshown in Figs. 3 and 4. The lower end of each of the levers is pressedagainst the side face of the arm, F, while the upper end is formed witha groove, 01, adapted to engage and be pressed against the flange, d ofthe plate, I. At one point in its margin the plate, I, is formed with anotch, N, adapted to permit removal of the lever, L, and separation ofthe various parts of the clamping block. When all the parts are in theposition shown in Fig. 4, if the arm, F, be withdrawn from the clampingblock, it is evident that the upper end of the lever, L, may be swunginward into the notch, N, and may then be drawn downward and removedentirely from the block; and after the lever, L, is removed, the plate,I, with its posts, K, K, may be dropped downward and removed from theshell, I. The construction thus described is simple and is adapted topermit ready and convenient assembling of the parts.

Fig. 10 illustrates a modification of the construction of the guides, D,one of the jaws, of the dovetailed upper face of the guide being made ina separate piece from the remainder and being held in place by screws, 5engaging the jaw and lying in transverse slots, n. By means of thisconstruction the jaw, D, may evidently be moved laterally to vary itsdistance from the fixed jaw and thus compensate for wear of the parts.

I have found that it is sometimes desirable to increase the horizontalsurface of the clamping blocks and for this purpose it is only necessaryto place outside the shell, I, a-suitable plate 0 of any desired sizeand form. Such a plate is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the

outer margin of the plate being indicated by the dotted lines and theinner margin being a circle fitting closely about the shell, I. Theentire plate rests upon the arm and its upper surface is flush with thesurface of the ring, I. The plate is also shown in section in Fig.twhich is a vertical section through the line 4L-4 of Fig. 3.

It is sometimes convenient to have clamping parts against which they inspecial work blocks fitted exactly to the are to be pressed.

For this purpose any special forms may be substituted for theangle-blocks, M, each form being, of course, provided with the anglesadapted to engage the posts, K, K, and hold the angle block in place.

The frame of the clamp may if desired be provided with two or more lugsor ears, (t-66, Fig. 2, adapted to be screwed to a bench or othersupport.

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a clamp, the combination with a suitable frame, two movable guidessupported at the center of the frame and means substantially as shownand described for varying the distance between said guides, of a seriesof radiating arms having their inner ends pivoted in said guides andindependently operated means for moving the inner and outer ends of saidarms laterally, whereby the angular position of each of said arms may bevaried at will; substantially as shown and de scribed.

2. In a clamp, the combination with a suitable frame, two longitudinallyslotted guides supported at the center of the frame and meanssubstantially as shown and described for varying the distance of saidguides from each other, of a series of radiating arms provided at theirinner ends with pivots seated in the slots in said guides, two sets ofslotted segments crossing said arms at different distances from thecenter, slides moving in said slotted segments, plates sliding in saidarms and connected with said slides respectively, and meanssubstantially as shown and described for fastening said slides in anydesired positions in said segments, whereby said arms may be secured inany desired angular positions, and still be left free to movelongitudinally; substantially as shown and described.

3. In a clamp, the combination with a suitable frame, two longitudinallyslotted parallel guides supported at the center of the frame, and meanssubstantially as shown and described for varying the space between saidguides, of aseries of radiating arms provided at their inner ends withpivots seated in the slots in said guides, inner slotted segments, G,and outer slotted segments, G, fastened to the frame, slides, S, S,moving in said segments, respectively, plates f f moving in longitudinalslots in the arms and pivoted to the slides, S, S, respectively, setscrews adapted to secure the slides at any desired points in thesegments and clamping blocks adj ustably mounted on the arms and adaptedto be brought into contact with different points upon an object tobeclamped; substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination with the frame, the arms, F, F, F, F, and meanssubstantially as shown and described for fixing the angular position ofsaid arms and moving said arms longitudinally, of the clamping blocksadj ustably mounted upon said arms and each made up of a shell,I,sliding upon the arm and provided with lugs engaging longitudinalgrooves therein, a plate, I, resting upon the arm and flanged to preventits upward movement, and posts, K, K, formed upon the plate, and eachhaving two Working faces at right angles to each other and at rightangles to the corresponding faces of the otherpost, whereby the angleformed by either pair of faces of the two posts may be presented to thecorner of an object to be held in the clamp.

5. The combination 'With the frame, the arms, F, F, F, F, and meanssubstantially as shown and described for adjusting the arms, of theshells, I, mounted on the arms, the plates, 1, secured and rotating inthe shells and provided with the posts, K, K, and the angle-blocks, M,each formed with two angles adapt-ed to engage the posts and with athird angle adapted to form the corner of the clamp,

the angle-blocks being reversible upon the posts; substantially as shownand described. 6. The combination with the frame, the arms, and meansfor adjusting the arms, of the shells, I, sliding upon the arms, theplates, 1 secured in the shells and formed with posts, K, K, andnotches, N, the levers, L, lying within the shells and the set screws,L, impinging upon the levers and adapted to press the lower end of eachlever against the arm and to press the upper end of the lever againstthe plate, I, and thereby to secure the shell firmly in any desiredposition upon the arm; substantially as shown and described.

FREDERICK F. HOUSTON.

\Vitnesses:

R. H. WILEs, CHARLES O. SHnRvnv.

ICO

